Chinese Roundabout: Essays in History and Culture [Hardcover]

Jonathan D. Spence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1992

In the work of twenty-five years, Jonathan Spence has established himself as an interpreter of modern Chinese history. His most recent book was "The Search for Modern China". Spence recreates the historical character and setting in the moving story of Arcadio Huang's odyssey from south China to Enlightenment Paris, where he briefly gains a foothold in an alien culture but then is tragically undermined; takes a Shakespearean approach to the life of the great Qing emperor K'ang-hsi; informs the reader on China's tragic experience with opium; and describes the splendours of food in Chinese culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Spence's intellectually adventurous essays help us understand the dynamics of China's past and the dormant promise of its future. He reviews the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 with reference to the symbolism of public spaces. He boldly interprets the life of Qing emperor K'anghsi (1654-1722) in terms of Shakespeare's seven ages of man. The tragic odyssey of Arcadio Huang, a Chinese scholar in Paris who briefly befriended Montesquieu, serves as a parable of missed opportunities in contact between China and the West. Spence ( The Search for Modern China ) shows how opium smoking radically affected all levels of society and contrasts the diet of China's poor with that of gourmets. This miscellany of previously published essays and reviews includes profiles of John Fairbank and Arthur Waley as well as lively explorations of Chinese films and medicine, the fall of the Ming dynasty and the longevity of Confucianism. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Spence may now be the most important Sinologist writing in the West. A master of both breadth and detail, he writes in a vivid, free-flowing style that produces critically acclaimed masterpieces ( The Search for Modern China , LJ 4/15/90, is the most recent) one after another. This welcome collection contains reprints from more than a score of Spence's earlier books and other writings. He likes the word roundabout , he tells us, because it suggests "meandering that is yet somehow purposeful"--precisely the effect achieved here in a gathering of diverse perspectives on China's history and culture, from the Jesuit presence in the Middle Kingdom four centuries ago to the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, including such topics as opium smoking, poetry, movie criticism, and cuisine. A delight to read, ponder, and enjoy, Chinese Roundabout offers scholarship for the scholars and intellectual enjoyment for most general readers as well.
- John H. Boyle, California State Univ., Chico
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 414 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; lst ed edition (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393033554
• ISBN-13: 978-0393033557
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,531,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay for Spence fans, August 14, 2001

By 

Thomas F. Ogara (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chinese Roundabout: Essays in History and Culture (Paperback)

Typical Jonanthan Spence fare, if that's your pleasure. If you're a fan of his (and I happen to think he's very good) or you're interested in the broader perspectives of Chinese-Western culture exchanges over the centuries, then you'll enjoy it. Otherwise you'll probably find it either abstruse or boring. Suit yourself.